A3-31 questions

[David Hawxhurst]

i'm getting ready to buy one in the next month or so. have decided to get the digital wheel, pass on the mobility kit (will be getting some zambus caster instead) and extensions (don't really work with much over 6'-8') at this time.
my clearvue cyclone use 6" the a3-31 doesn't has anyone modified or changed there a3-31 to use 6" port?

[Frank Drew]

i'm getting ready to buy one in the next month or so. have decided to get the digital wheel, pass on the mobility kit (will be getting some zambus caster instead) and extensions (don't really work with much over 6'-8') at this time.
my clearvue cyclone use 6" the a3-31 doesn't has anyone modified or changed there a3-31 to use 6" port?

David, "digital wheel, mobility kit, zambus caster, clearvue cyclone... " I love it when you talk that way :D, but what's an A3-31?

[Tom W Armstrong]

Frank, you asked that question about my A3-31 as well:
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=141953&highlight=a3-31

Please memorize the Felder/Hammer model numbers. :)

David, I just looked at my a3-31 and it doesn't look easy to remove the standard factory dust chute. It measures approximately 4.5" and Hammer sells an adapter which drops this to 4". That's what I'm using. Maybe an adapter to take 4.5" to 6" is good approach? Hammer may have such a thing.

[Mike Konobeck]

I was ironically looking on SMC for some ideas on how to deal with some longer (7'+) stock. I have some rough 5/4 maple that I have been jointing and found the Achilles heal of the short beds. I have NO idea how people get by without extensions or nicer roller stands. I have a bunch of rollers and the problem is that you have to spend a lot of time to get a truly jointed piece of wood. I am building a bench top and there is no way I am going to get it done without the assistance of extensions. What really annoys me is that I will need to buy two brackets (1 for the jointer and 1 for the planer) and two extensions to really make it enjoyable and efficient to use. That is about $500. If everything you do is less than 5' then you are good. Anything more you at least have to have an outfeed extension but if you are dealing with thinner stock then you are going to get a bow in the piece unless you support it on the infeed too. If you are spending the money then just do it right and get the extensions.

The digital hand wheel is nice but not really necessary. I mic every movement anyways and feel it is very consistent. Seems like everyone loves the wheel so don't want to discourage you. Everyone works differently.

Extra blades a must. I have not ran that much lumber through it but already have a few small chips in the blade. Makes very small ridges that I can live with until it starts to tear out more than I care to deal with and then I will switch over to the cobalt ones I bought.

[Eiji Fuller]

made my own extensions and have no problems with long stock. I have jointed up to 14' with no problems. As for the straight knives...

byrd head conversion is the way to go. Felder with upgrade for 800.00

that will save you so much in the cost of knives and torn out lumber.

[Jamie Buxton]

I cut off the metric dust port on my a3-31, and kludged a 5" one on. Duct tape helps. My duct is 6" metal, with a 5' piece of 6" vinyl flex on the end of it. The flex can hook to a3-31 in either the jointer mode or the planer mode. There's a 6"-to-5" adapter at the end of the 6" vinyl.

[David Hawxhurst]

David, "digital wheel, mobility kit, zambus caster, clearvue cyclone... " I love it when you talk that way :D, but what's an A3-31?

12"jointer/planer made by Hammer/Felder



Frank, you asked that question about my A3-31 as well:
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=141953&highlight=a3-31
you have several good ideas in this thread. was assuming that the power cord was customer provided.
Please memorize the Felder/Hammer model numbers. :)

David, I just looked at my a3-31 and it doesn't look easy to remove the standard factory dust chute. It measures approximately 4.5" and Hammer sells an adapter which drops this to 4". That's what I'm using. Maybe an adapter to take 4.5" to 6" is good approach? Hammer may have such a thing.
probably going to try 4.5 "to 6" method first, going down further to 4" does't make sense to me.


will also add a set of cobalt blades.
mike - you do make a point about the extensions. still, i think i'll go without them for now and use roller stands for anything long. for now most of what i do is less than 6'.

[Mike Konobeck]

Can you please post pictures of your extensions? I would like to make my own and someone posted some ideas about a torsion box which seems like a good idea. I thought about trying to make something out of baltic birch and just bolt it on the outfeed side and get 1 extension for the infeed side with 2 mounts (1 for the outfeed of the jointer and 1 for the outfeed of the planer). Just tired of making jigs. Some people like making jigs. I am not one of them. :)

[Jeff Monson]

David, when you order the a3-31 ask your sales rep. for an adaptor for the dc, they make a metric to 6" adaptor.

[Roger Jensen]

Even though they are expensive (and you've already spent $3K+ on the unit) I'd spring for the two extensions. They are really nice.

When you are using the planer, you can put both of them on the outfeed end of the planer bed (they are half the width of the bed). That gives you solid outfeed support for the planer.

When you are jointing, you can put one on the infeed end using the same bracket the fence attaches to. You can put the other one on the outfeed table. They just hang on the brackets so it is easy to move them back and forth when you switch functions.

I have tried using rollers for support and it doesn't work as well. You can't fine tune the height as well and ensure it is parallel/in-line with the tables.

Roger

[ian maybury]

I'll be starting to use an A3 410 Hammer planer thicknesser (the 16in model) once I have my Pentz DIY dust system finished, and the sockets wired.

As a Pentz devotee I buy the need for a 6in duct, flex hose and hood entry for good dust and chip collection performance.

I looked for but could not find offered anywhere a 6in version of stock 4 3/4in dia outlet black plastic hood entry/adaptor piece fitted as standard.

In the end I concluded that the only route was to find some black 6in plastic pipe in the same material (not sure what it is), cut the original off and hot air weld or bond on the larger one using one of the structural plastic adhesives offered by the likes of these guys: http://www.sdplastics.com/weldon.html#PRICES It'll need squeezing down to an oval section at one end as the hood is only about 4 3/4in deep.

Like Eiji I'm planning the DIY route for table extensions as the budget won't at this stage stretch to what Felder want for the real deal.

And guess what... A beech workbench is the first major project on the list here too, there's a stack of timber sitting in the shop for it right now.

ian

[Eiji Fuller]

Ian,
gotta build the benchcrafted roubo bench. Looks awesome

[Mike Konobeck]

Emailed Felder rep about purchasing the extensions. No sales going on. Kind of surprised since the IWF is coming up soon. He said maybe in Aug. Right before I had it shipped I went back and forth. Could have received 15% off at the time. No dice and kicking myself for the delay I face now. Can't just run to the store and pick a set up. Looks like I will be making a temporary solution until a deal comes along. Maybe they will just have to ship them with the purchase of my B3/KF500 when the funds become available. :rolleyes:

[Rod Sheridan]

Mike, the nice thing about the Hammer/Felder extensions is that if you buy extra mounting rails you can put them on your bandsaw or shaper or..............

It is a great way to have larger table machines only when you need it. Regards, Rod.

[Doug Shepard]

I ended up going with Felders metric flex hose to connect to the dust port then had a reducer made by KB Duct to fit the other end of the flex then into my 6" S&D DC downtubes. One thing I wonder about is whether trying to increase to 6" right at the machine might not interefere some with the path through in planer mode. Larger & heavier flex hose might want to hang down further and get in the way.

[ian maybury]

Fair comment Doug - the scheme I described is the provisional plan, but it's not yet been done.

I'm on the Roubo trail Eiji (my current is a home made general purpose soft wood job on steel brackets), although the design in the Chris Schwarz book is the one (but with a thicker top) in mind so far with the top as close to 5in as I can get out of the planer from my stock...

ian

[ian maybury]

Fair comment Doug - the scheme I described is the provisional plan, but it's not yet been done or even worked through in detail. The main thought behind it is that planers seem to need as much suck as they can get to grab the fine dust - and even a local restriction sharply reduces airflow..

I'm on the Roubo trail Eiji, although the design in the Chris Schwarz book is the basis of the one in mind so far but with the top as close to 5in as I get out of the planer...

ian

[John Ferandin]

I bought two cast iron extensions when I bought my KF700SP (Felder for those who haven't memorized the catalogs :) ) last year and found them so useful I added Aigner Mounting Rails (very inexpensive) to almost every machine I own.
My planer foot print got smaller because the extensions don't live on the machine anymore unless needed.

The Aigner Mounting Rails are available through Rangate, Martin, or Simantech and are really reasonably priced for what you get.

Good luck and you'll love the European machinery. John

[Scot Ferraro]

I got 1 m of 120mm hose from Felder and then used an Oneida 120mm to 6 inch reducer to connect to my 6 inch trunk line. It works great.

Scot

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

has anyone modified or changed there a3-31 to use 6" port?

I used an old 2 quart poly bottle. Itmade the transition nicely.

[Mike Konobeck]

Can you send a direct link to the Aigner Mounting Rails you used? Are they "universal" or specifically made for the Felder/Hammer extensions? Pictures would be helpful. Built an extension out of phenolic and Baltic birch last night but the cast iron table end actually has an angle to it. No idea why but I just have to figure out an easy way to mount the homemade extension now.

[John Ferandin]

Mike,
Felder uses what they call the F-Rail on their cast iron tables (saws, planer, jointers, etc.). The Aigner mounting rails are very close and work fine for the extension tables.
I've attached a picture of my jointer with one extension table and the page from the Aigner catalog.
I purchased them from Greg Godbout at www.rangate.com (http://www.rangate.com).

John

[David Hawxhurst]

so it arrived friday and been busy setting it up (mostly just verifying everything is good) only thing that has need adjustment so far is the fence was not 90 degrees (it is now). will being going to the borg today to get some plugs and wire, then i'll finish setting it up and doing the test cuts.
as for the hand wheel it seems to work backwards. as you raise the planer table the number is increasing (shouldn't it decrease)?
as for the zambus casters i know now why everybody that has used them likes them so much. i have never had something that heavy been so easy to move.
for dust collection i just made an adapter that fits the six inch hose and slips snugly on the port of the a3-31.

[Kelly Colin Mark]

as for the zambus casters i know now why everybody that has used them likes them so much. i have never had something that heavy been so easy to move.
Old thread, I know. I have an A3-31 waiting for me as well as a mobility kit. Which Zambus casters did people buy for their A3-31, and do these mount directly or does the base need to be modified ? Would they work as well on a slightly uneven and bumpy floor as the mobility kit ? By how much can the leveling feet compensate ?

I have a pretty limited space and the casters seem like they would afford more mobility.

Thanks !

[David Hawxhurst]

ac-300. much better mobility than the felder/hammer kit. there are holes that are on the base and just need to be slightly enlarged. might have to drill one from scratch don't rember off the top of my head. the ac-300 work great on uneven floors (like mine) they will lift the wheel off the ground by about 10mm or so. i can spin my a3-31 in place.

[Doug Shepard]

Old thread, I know. I have an A3-31 waiting for me as well as a mobility kit. Which Zambus casters did people buy for their A3-31, and do these mount directly or does the base need to be modified ? Would they work as well on a slightly uneven and bumpy floor as the mobility kit ? By how much can the leveling feet compensate ?

I have a pretty limited space and the casters seem like they would afford more mobility.

Thanks !
I've got the Zambus under my MM16 bandsaw and they work really well. However, Zambus prices are a bit steep compared to equivalent ones offered by Great Lakes caster which a lot of folks have used and posted positively about. For my A3-31 I ended up going for the ratcheting type, just to ease the amount of time required bent over futzing with the normal adjusting wheel required to raise/lower the foot. I got mine here
http://www.clevelandcaster.com/productcart/pc/viewPrd.asp?idproduct=16&idcategory=3
Whether Zambus, Great Lakes, or Footmaster, you'll have to slightly enlarge 2 holes then drill 2 additional holes in the base. I had mine hoisted up on blocks with an engine hoist and it took me maybe 30-40 minutes to get the casters installed.
The mobility kit wouldn't work for me as it only steers from the wide dimension. My setup would have required that the Johnson bar setup steer from the narrow end. With the casters it doesn't matter.

[Rod Sheridan]

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?88687-Hammer-A3-31-Mobile-Base&highlight=hammer+a3-31+mobile+base

As Doug indicated the Hammer mobility kit moved the machine in the wrong direction for me also.

I built the mobile base illustrated in the above thread so that it raises the machine only about 1/2" above the floor. This works great for me as I'm short.......Regards, Rod.

[David Wong]

I bought the Rockler All-Terrain mobile base for my Hammer A3-31. I am 5'8" (and shrinking), and did not want to raise the bed any more than necessary. The Rockler base probably raises the height be about 1 inch. The large diameter wheels are great, and the A3-31 moves very easily for a 600 lb machine.